Apple Pay goes live in the UK with support from 8 banks, 250,000 stores

Apple Pay has expanded its reach from the U.S., officially launching in the UK. Users will be able to use the contactless payment system at more than 250,000 retailers with support coming from eight banks right off the bat. According to the UK Apple Pay page, the service is currently supported with credit and debit cards from the following list of financial institutions and card issuers:

American Express

Visa

Mastercard

First Direct

HSBC

Nationwide

NatWest

Royal Bank of Scotland

Santander

Ulster Bank

The official launch confirms previous rumors that the service would become available in the UK on July 14 as signs began appearing at retailers around the country last week. Just like the post-launch process went in the U.S., we're likely to see Apple Pay support expand to a number of financial institutions over the next months, with Bank of Scotland, Halifax, Lloyds Bank, M&S Bank, MBNA, and TSB set to roll out support next.

Apple Pay is supported wherever contactless payments are supported, but Apple has provided a list of a number of specific retailers that accept the mobile payment solution, all of which you can check out on the Apple Pay UK page. Keep in mind that, at least initially, purchases will be limited to a £20 cap, but that will expand to £30 in September.